Schools

Better idea of updated timetable will come in March, board hears

By Jenni Grubbs

Times Staff Writer

Posted:
02/02/2016 10:07:12 PM MST

The Re-3 Board of Education hears an update on the construction of the new middle school in southwest Fort Morgan during the regular meeting Monday night. The recent snowy weather caused the contractor, Haselden Construction, to "re-sequence" some of the work, according to Project Manager Greg Wegner, with work on the gymnasiums (buildings E and F) starting early and things like putting in the spray insulation in other buildings having to wait for warmer temperatures. (Jenni Grubbs / Fort Morgan Times)

Weather-related agenda changes

The Re-3 Board of Education tabled all the action items at the start of Monday night's meeting due to possible confusion over an announcement made by the district that all evening activities were cancelled following the early release from school. The regular school board meeting was not meant to be one of the cancelled activities, but there were concerns over it being interpreted that way. As a result, the board decided to postpone action on items that community members might have wanted to come and speak about, according to Board President Connie Weingarten. Also postponed from Monday night's agenda were the district employee of the month presentation and two scheduled executive sessions.

All the snow that fell Sunday through Tuesday not only affected the schools and gave them at least an afternoon and a day off from school, it also affected the construction of the new middle school currently in progress.

The Re-3 Board of Education heard an update on that construction and the weather from Project Manager Greg Wegner of contractor Haselden Construction and owner's representative Dan Spykstra of Wember at Monday night's regular board meeting.

Even with the snow falling hard and wet, the two men were in Fort Morgan yet Monday night after an earlier meeting with Superintendent Ron Echols.

"I told them they could stay here if they wanted," the superintendent said, only partly joking.

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But even with the chilly, snowy storm raging outside, Spykstra and Wegner seemed to stay positive about the weather's impact on the big project.

"Things are going well out on the site, despite the weather and the snow we got tonight," Spykstra said.

Part of that, he said, was how the contractor had broken the overall project into areas so that the less weather-affected parts could be done while the ones that were either too cold or open to the snow had to wait.

"As far as delays and weather, we've had to re-sequence some things," Wegner agreed, pointing to work currently underway in the two gyms, called buildings E and F, that had been scheduled for later that the storm made it make more sense to do now.

Work in the cafetorium (Building D) was one of the projects that had to wait, since its roof is not completed yet, Wegner said of the large southwest building.

But the A and B classroom buildings on the northwest part of the campus both have drywall going up in them, and things like the big steel structure over the main entrance on Building D is up.

Wegner and Spykstra showed the board several recent pictures of the construction site that illustrated the progress since their last construction update.

"You can see the brick veneer started to go up," Wegner said of one picture. "That will help seal up the building."

Board President Connie Weingarten seemed to enjoy seeing the pictures, but her question for the pair was the one hanging over the whole board: "Are we where we thought we were going to be?"

Wegner's reply was positive but tentative.

"Yes, I would say we are," he said, but still pointing to March as when they would be able to have a more certain update to the completion timetable. "We'll be more closed in and have a better control of our destiny. We're still at the mercy of weather."

"Wasn't the original projection for January for dry-in?" Weingarten pressed Wegner.

"Yes, and we have begun dry-in in Building A," he replied, again pointing to March as when it should all be in or past dry-in stage.

Spykstra then went over the status of some other parts of the project with the board, such as inspections of materials, mechanical systems and building codes compliance.

"To date, all inspections have met or exceed the project requirements," he said of the building materials.

Field observations of the installed mechanical systems have begun and will continue, and the third-party inspector has performed some code inspections with no issues so far, Spykstra told the board.

"The next steps are furniture, fixtures and equipment," he said. "We're moving along with that."

As for the project's funding and costs, the billings as of Jan. 15 totaled about $12.8 million of the about $36 million original total from the BEST grant and local bond. Of that, about $23.2 million is still available for the middle school, with about $19,300 remaining in reserve funds.

The last question the board had for Wegner and Skystra was what their biggest challenge had been with the project.

"Weather," Wegner said unequivocally. "Partly the snow, but really the cold. The buildings are insulated by spray foam, which is weather dependent."

The insulation calls for temperatures of at least 40 degrees for its application to be effective, he explained. It's been far colder than that many days this winter during construction.

But Wegner said they were able to shift some projects around and give the workers "wiggle room" for when the insulation had to be applied.

"All in all, things are going good," Spykstra concluded.

Despite her reservations about the timetable, Weingarten sounded excited about what she had just heard.

"It's nice to see the progress that we're making and that things are moving along," she said.

Echols seemed positive about the middle school construction project, but he echoed weather as the biggest issue the contractors are facing.

"They're going to try to get that school open on time," he said. "We'll lose at least a day or two out of this storm."

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